FOLLOWUP: New Alki Beach restrooms ‘very close to opening’

While at Alki for the art installation, we noticed the new restroom building (aka “comfort station”) getting painted, so we asked Seattle Parks about the newest estimate for opening. When last we checked on it, the projected opening was late July, but that’s come and gone. Parks’ Kelly Goold says, “Alki is very close to opening – waiting on City Light to reconnect power.” No date set for that yet, but they are hoping for next week. The new restroom building, which will have three stalls, has been under construction for seven months, with delays along the way including material availability.

Linda August 30, 2021 (4:09 pm)

So glad the Alki Beach restrooms are finally opening, taking way to long!! Hey Parks Dept, summer is almost over!

flimflam August 30, 2021 (5:37 pm)

Lol just in time!

bikerep August 30, 2021 (6:08 pm)

i feel like ive been riding my bike past this project for years now..covid blurr..HOW LONG TO BUILD A DANG BATHROOM>?!??

Robert J Schmidt August 30, 2021 (6:41 pm)

Timing is everything.

Connoisseur of Art & Comfort August 30, 2021 (7:43 pm)

I live on 58th Ave SW and it’s been an absolutely glorious experience watching these literal works of art be constructed over the past 7 months. It’s become a part of my morning routine to anxiously check for progress on what must be the most technically advanced comfort stations in the western world, considering the project timeline. I wonder if this is how Italy felt as Michelangelo slowly chiseled out a block of marble that he would eventually transform into The David. As the months pass and summer turns to fall, I eagerly await the grand opening and the true comfort only an unheated, open air, three stall public bathroom can bring.

Laura August 30, 2021 (8:38 pm)

Thank you so much for this
Parks worker August 30, 2021 (9:42 pm)

Touché!
Chels p August 30, 2021 (9:58 pm)

Literally laughed out loud 😂😂 thank you for this hahaha
Raye August 30, 2021 (11:29 pm)

Brilliant! Thank you for the laugh.
Frog August 31, 2021 (10:30 am)

I was thinking maybe they would blast off and give you a brief sub-orbital ride while you relieve yourself.
Wseattleite August 31, 2021 (12:20 pm)

Thank you. I nearly laughed coffee out my nose.

James August 30, 2021 (8:35 pm)

The City of Seattle is slowly but surely turning me into a reactionary conservative (from a progressive liberal). Months behind schedule and for the cost ($600K+) to construct a family home (without the price of land). Since 2012, the City’s budget has ballooned by over 50% (less than $4 billion to $6.5 billion) – a figure well in excess of inflation and population growth. With increasing real-estate prices – property owners are only likely to see ever-higher property taxes. And what do residents of Seattle get for our city government’s largesse – crumbling infrastructure, a police force now perilously understaffed, almost zero progress on one of the country’s worst homeless problems, school students without adequate technology during the pandemic, a surfeit of well-paid consultants employed by the city, and an inability to do simple things like construct or refurbish public bathrooms on time. At least we can pride ourselves on probably having one of the highest concentrations of speed bumps in neighborhood streets in the world!

Mycroft August 31, 2021 (6:34 am)

Crikey! $640,000 (budgeted who knows what the final cost was) for a 3 stall bathroom? WTW? Marble interiors? Each with a bidet? Heated toilet seats? Yes they had to demo the existing facility but it’s not like they had to buy land or do completely new sewer or water hookups.Amazingly (or not) you can actually find houses (habitable!) in West Seattle that list for around that.

Wseattleite August 31, 2021 (3:09 pm)

I believe the cost reflects the expedited high rate of speed in which they installed the new three stall facility.

Caravan August 31, 2021 (1:29 pm)

Just in time for the caravans and campers to move in for the fall.

Pat August 31, 2021 (2:56 pm)

OH OH – did I just read “unheated” and “open air” regarding these magnificent restrooms?? I guess no more walking on Alki when the freezing weather starts & the city turns off the water. Darn, no more Starbucks stops on the morning walk for all us old guys.

Sorry, comment time is over.